


Blood Promise

by Dressed_In_Darkness



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alpha Eren Yeager, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Bottom Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Consensual Sex, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Knotting, M/M, Mages, Magic, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), POV First Person, Scent Marking, Sexual Tension, Shameless Smut, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Top Eren Yeager
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-10-04 12:33:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17304704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dressed_In_Darkness/pseuds/Dressed_In_Darkness
Summary: The Blood Promise ritual has been forbidden for centuries due to its dangerous nature. It calls for two alphas of equal strength to join together under a full moon to combine their strength and become one in both body and mind. But what will happen when an alpha and an omega decide to perform the ritual? What will be the end results? Although Eren Yeager and Levi Ackerman don't know the answer, they choose to take the risk to bring down a common foe and protect their packs.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Take two? If you keep track of my work, I'm sure you recognize this fic. Due to certain things happening in the fandom, I took it down and honestly didn't think I'd ever put it back up. The only reason I'm deciding to attempt this again is because of how many people have asked me to. I was overwhelmed by how many of you are actually interested in seeing this story continue. So, for you, I'm ready to try again. Thank you for the support, and for believing in me. I'll try my best!
> 
> Turkish translation can be found [here.](https://www.wattpad.com/story/190022186?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details_button&wp_uname=Its_EreRi&wp_originator=VMTdrExknCIykS%2F9DMS7x9TPuZ04PbkadYvckuU2n64evwDi5frB55TZSXB0ABQd0LjuhBLVRV2PewQ7dgnai1FSMhn2G7GPVKGUy0mlCwRnztz2lpwuqyJRMmcnSiz6&_branch_match_id=666904492130256663)
> 
> [Tumblr](https://dressedindarkness.tumblr.com/) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/dressed_in_darkness/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/writerinbloom)

One misstep and the alpha would catch me.

     Darkness had settled over the forest near my home, the kind that made it impossible to see anything. I had to rely on my instincts to weave through the trees, but a thick layer of leaves and fallen branches carpeted the ground, threatening to trip me up with every step. But I had to keep going. I couldn’t afford to stop or slow down. Running at this speed was the only thing keeping me out of the alpha’s reach. If I stumbled even once, it would come to a fight, and he’d have the advantage in this total darkness.

     _I can’t fall. I_ won’t _fall._

     Why had this alpha followed me here from the bar? What did he want? These questions kept running through my mind, yet I didn’t have answers to any of them, but his scent—a pungent mixture of determination and excitement—told me everything I needed to know. He wouldn’t stop until he had me in his grasp.

     I gritted my teeth, enraged. Was he one of Zeke’s men? Had that bastard finally sent someone after me? If that were the case, I’d show him I wasn’t someone he could take out with ease. I would rip this alpha apart and send Zeke the pieces. I just had to make it to the cabin first.

     “You’re fast,” the alpha said from behind me. He didn’t sound winded, even when he was running as fast as me. “But you’re not fast enough to outrun me.”

     That hit a nerve. Seething, I dared to look at him over my shoulder. I saw nothing in the darkness except for his eyes—yellow, feral eyes.

     _It can’t be. Not just an alpha, but a pack leader?_

     A root buried beneath the underbrush caught the toe of my foot, and I tripped and fell to one knee. I had half a second to realize what this meant, then I grabbed the dagger hidden inside my boot. I swung around, aiming to drive it into his stomach, but he was fast; too fast for me to keep up with his movements. He seized my wrist and twisted my hand to the side, the hilt of the dagger slipping out of my grasp. I had no time to recover. He pinned my arm behind my back and forced me to the ground. The side of my face skidded across the forest floor.

     “You bastard,” I growled.

     “Don’t act like you can’t handle more than this.” His chest came to rest on my back as he lowered himself over me. The weight of him pressed me flat against the ground. He said, in a smooth, deep voice, “You’re exactly like they said you would be, Levi. I’m impressed.”

     I tried to squirm away from him. “Who the fuck are you, and how do you know who I am?”

     “I’m going to let you up, then I’ll explain myself.” He tightened his grip on my wrist. “Don’t try anything, little one.”

     “Little...?” My jaw clenched tight. I was going to kill him.

     He ignored my anger and leaned back on his knees, lifting me to my feet as though I weighed nothing. I snatched my hand back, irritated, and brushed away the twigs stuck to the front of my jeans, all while inching my fingers closer to my front pocket. The dagger wasn’t the only weapon I carried. I just hoped he wouldn’t realize my intentions until it was too late. And if I wanted to take him down in one go, I’d have to hit him somewhere vital. That wouldn’t be an easy thing to do in these conditions.

     I set aside any doubts as I slid my hand into my pocket. The cool bite of metal brushed against my fingertips. I let out a breath and snatched the throwing star without giving myself time to hesitate, whipping around and slashing through air.

     What? Where the hell did he go?

     “I told you not to try anything,” he said, his voice coming from somewhere behind me. The next thing I knew, he had me pushed up against the nearest tree. He gathered my wrists in one of his large hands and pinned them above my head. Rough bark scraped my arms. “Now we have to do this the hard way.”

     The outline of his body was all I could make out. He was tall. I had to tilt my head back to look at his face, into those yellow eyes that confirmed he was no ordinary alpha.

     “Tell me who you are,” I snapped.

     “Are you in any position to be making demands?”

     I brought my leg up, intent on ramming my knee into his stomach, but he blocked my attempt. I bared my teeth.

     “You’re not used to it, are you?” he said, matter-of-fact. “Being overpowered?”

     “Fight me fairly, and I’ll show you how easily I can overpower you.”

     “Can you? You’re strong. I’m not denying that. But you’re not stronger than me.”

     I jerked my hands forward, but his grip didn’t loosen. That pissed me off. “Are you going to stand there and talk all night? Or are you going to tell me what you want with me? Did Zeke send you?”

     “I’m not with Zeke,” he bit out, “but he is why I’m here.”

     “Make sense already, bastard.”

     Out of nowhere, light burst around us as lightning snaked across the black sky. The clap of thunder that followed was so loud I winced.

     The alpha tipped his head back. “There’s a storm coming. A bad one, from the looks of it. We need to find shelter.”

     “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

     “You don’t have a choice.”

     This time when lightning zipped down from the sky, my eyes found his face. For half a heartbeat the world was ever bright, and in those seconds, everything stood still. His features were sharp, precise, like someone had taken careful consideration and carved him out of stone. My gaze lingered on his lips, then traveled up the bridge of his nose, where our eyes met. A shock ran through me. They were no longer yellow. They had returned to normal, the color of them unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I couldn’t look away.

     The world went black again. I breathed out a slow, shaky breath.

     His eyes were green, a deep sea green.

     “You were heading somewhere,” he said, reminding me why I was in this position to begin with. The spell broke and my anger returned in one fell swoop. “Do you have a place nearby?”

     “Why should I tell you that?”

     He sighed. “I don’t want to have to hurt you. Just answer me.”

     “How about you tell me your name, and I’ll guide you to a place we can talk?”

     “Out of the rain?”

     “What rain?” As I said it, water dripped on me from overhead. I cursed.

     “That rain.” He let go of my wrists, but pressed in close. His scent filled my nose. He smelled like something I couldn’t quite describe, like warm honey and the ocean breeze. “My name’s Eren Yeager.”

     My eyes widened in shock. “Yeager... As in Zeke Yeager’s younger brother?” I darted to the right, using the flash of lightning to locate my dagger. I knelt down, snatched it up, and brought it down on his thigh. Or I would have, if he hadn’t stepped sideways at the last second. But the sudden movement caused the blade to swipe across his leg anyway. It cut him, but not deep enough to keep him down.

     “You just don’t quit, do you?” He sounded annoyed. In the dark, I barely saw him raise his hand. “Don’t come. It’s alright. I’m okay.”

     “Who are you talking to?” I turned my head to scan my surroundings. I couldn’t see anything. “You’re not alone.”

     “Neither are you.”

     I went to ask him what he meant by that, but then I smelled them. My pack. I must’ve been close enough to the cabin for them to pick up my scent of distress.

     Eren stepped toward me. The sharp smell of blood stung my nose and made the hairs on my arms stand up in warning. “There doesn’t need to be a fight. It doesn’t have to come to that.” Another step. “I came here because we can help each other. Zeke took something from us both. Together, we can—”

     “You’re right,” I said, interrupting him. “Zeke did take something from me, so why the hell should I trust his brother?”

     “He’s _not_ my brother.”

     Lightning crackled through the air, and in the flash of white light I saw his pack surrounding him. There were six of them in total, three men and three women.

     “You’re outnumbered,” I said. There were seven members in my pack.

     “I told you, it doesn’t have to come down to a fight. Zeke—” He clenched his teeth, hands curling into fists at his sides. A gust of wind whipped by us and carried his scent to me. Hatred turned it into something vicious. “My brother...” He paused, an evident strain in his voice when he continued. “He killed our father and took over his pack. I couldn’t accept that. Neither could the people you see behind me, so we ran away and formed our own pack. But Zeke didn’t like that we rebelled against him. Now he’s hunting us down, just like he’s hunting your pack down. He’s already killed two of mine. I don’t plan on losing someone else.”

     “That doesn’t tell me what you want from me.”

     “I want to form an alliance,” he said. “I want to kill him, but I can’t do it alone. He’s recruited too many people. You know that. That’s how he took out your pack leader.”

     The memory of Erwin’s ravaged body came to the forefront of my mind. We had found him near the lake by the cabin, his throat torn open. Zeke had ganged up on him with several members of his pack, ripping him apart until he was unrecognizable, and I knew he was coming back for the rest of us. Who would he come for next? Hanji? Farlan? Isabel? Or would it be Petra? Or Nanaba? Maybe Mike? I couldn’t stand the thought of losing any of them. They were my family, and I would do anything to protect them. But how could I trust this alpha? How could I be sure that he wasn’t working alongside his brother?

     I couldn’t be, which made this decision easy.

     “An alliance won’t work,” I said, final. “I don’t trust you, and I never will.”

     “It will work,” he persisted. “We have a common foe, a common purpose. You’re the leader of your pack, and I’m the leader of mine. If we say the sacred words under a full moon—”

     I reared back when I realized what he was suggesting. “A blood promise? No. Never.”

     A blood promise was forbidden and hadn’t been done for hundreds of years. If two alphas equal in strength recited the sacred words under a full moon, and exchanged blood, their souls would be bound together until the promise had been fulfilled. And if one of them broke it, both of them would die. The sole reason so many alphas had done it in the past was because of the immense power they received from bounding their soul with another. 

     “It’s the only way we can be sure we won’t betray each other,” Eren explained, like I cared to listen. “If we don’t overthrow Zeke now, his pack will continue to grow stronger. What do you think will happen when he comes for you again? Another member of your pack will die. Are you willing to let that happen when you can stop it?”

     “Enough.” Mike came to stand beside me, an enormous shadow in the darkness. “We don’t need you. We’ll get by on our own.”

     The rest of my pack gathered around me, preparing for an attack.

     For some time, Eren stood there in silence, his rage evident. Then he said, “Zeke will come for you again. And when he does, one of you will die.”

     “Save your breath,” a woman said in a harsh tone. When lightning flashed again, I saw her standing next to him. She had sharp features and hair as black as night. “They won’t listen.”

     It began to rain in earnest a moment later, but still none of us moved. The energy crackling between us was tangible. We were all poised for a fight, waiting for it to break out. Could we leave here without spilling blood? It seemed impossible.

     “You’re the only one strong enough to be bound to me, Levi,” Eren went on, despite what the woman had told him. “The blood promise will work for us. And if you want to save your pack, you’ll reconsider.”

     I squared my shoulders, ready for anything. “You’re wasting your time, Alpha. I won’t bound myself to the likes of you.”

     He stepped forward, but the woman grabbed him by the wrist and said, “Let’s go.”

     Silence, and then, “You’ll regret this.” That’s the last thing Eren Yeager said to me before he turned and disappeared into the night, his pack following close behind.

     The tension didn’t ease for a long time. I kept thinking about Erwin. The way Zeke’s pack had left him... It was overkill, a message to the rest of us. Zeke wanted our pack to disband and join his. Instead, I rose to fill Erwin’s position as alpha, despite being the only omega in the pack.

     “Do you think he was right?” I asked. “Do you think I’ll regret turning him down?”

     Hanji answered. “No. You made the right call. We don’t know him. It’d be foolish to put our trust in Zeke’s brother.”

     “But he’s right. Zeke will come for us again.”

     “When he does,” Mike said, “we’ll be ready for him.”

     I doubted that. Although Zeke preferred to travel with only six members of his pack at any given time, he had many more to call upon. If he came here with the intention to kill me, he would succeed, and this time around he wouldn’t make the same mistake as he did with Erwin. Under no circumstances would he give my pack a chance to regroup and choose another alpha. He’d take them by force.

     “Now that Eren knows about this place, we should find somewhere else to stay,” I said. “It’s not safe here anymore.”

     “That can wait until tomorrow.” Mike looked up at the sky. “We can’t do anything in this storm. For tonight, let’s return to the cabin.”

     “Yeah,” Isabel grumbled. She kicked at a pile of wet leaves. “Let’s go home already. I’m soaking wet.”

     “We all are. Stop complaining,” said Farlan in a stern voice that left no room for argument. She crossed her arms over her chest, sulking. “We’ll do whatever Levi says.”

     They waited. I closed my eyes, wishing I knew the best course of action. Their lives were in my hands.

     _Erwin, what would you do in this situation?_

No matter how hard I tried to fill his shoes, I couldn’t. Why had I asked them to make me their leader? Why had they accepted me without question? Hanji and Mike were better suited for the task, but now it was too late. They were my responsibility, and it was up to me to get us out of this mess.

     “Let’s head back home for now,” I said at last, still wondering if this was the right decision to make. “We’ll stay there for tonight, but first thing tomorrow morning, we’re leaving.”

     Isabel ran in the direction of the cabin without a word. The rest of them followed her not long after, eager to get out of the rain, but I stayed behind to make sure no one followed us.

     “I can’t smell him anymore,” Mike assured me. He hadn’t gone with everyone else, always sensing my doubt. “He’s gone.”

     “He’ll be back.”

     “Yes, but we’ll be long gone by then.”

     I turned to leave, but something made me look back. In the dark, I could have sworn I saw a pair of yellow eyes staring back at me. Then I blinked and they were gone.

     “Levi?” Mike said.

     I gave my head a little shake. I must have been seeing things. “Come on. The others are probably waiting for us.”

 

△

 

The next morning, long before the sun came out, Farlan and I were loading up everyone’s belongings into the back of Mike’s pickup truck. It was an old thing, but it had enough left in it to get us to where we needed to go.

     “We’ll head west, put some distance between us and the Yeager brothers,” I said, thumping the side of the truck. The red paint was chipped and faded with age. “We’ll stay with my uncle until this whole thing blows over.”

     “You think it will be that easy? That alpha seemed pretty intent on getting you to agree to a blood promise.” He crammed Isabel’s duffel bag behind two suitcases. “He didn’t strike me as the type of person who gives up without a fight, either.”

     I turned towards the forest and remembered the determination in Eren’s yellow eyes. He wouldn’t give up. I knew that better than anyone, which was why we had to get out of here while we still had the chance. If I truly was the only one strong enough to be bound to him, he’d keep coming back. There were only four days left until the next full moon. “It won’t be easy,” I admitted, “but we’ll be safer at Kenny’s all the same. Once we get there, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

     “Then we’d better get a move on. That was the last of it.” Farlan jumped down from the tailgate and slammed it shut.

     “Go round everyone up. I want to leave as soon as possible.”

     When Farlan disappeared inside the cabin, I walked around back, checking the area to make sure we were still alone. It wouldn’t surprise me if Eren instructed one of the members of his pack to stay behind to keep track of us. If he had, I’d have no choice but to send a message of my own. I wouldn’t be able to let them go back unharmed, and hurting one of his would let Eren know I wasn’t someone to take lightly.

     I scanned the backyard and smelled the air, but all the scents I picked up were familiar ones.

     “Levi!” Farlan called, loud enough to startle some crows into flight. “We’re ready!”

     “I’m coming!” I took a step back and that’s when I heard something out of place. I stopped, listened. There was nothing now, just ordinary sounds of the forest: birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, the truck’s engine roaring to life, and then... A footstep, followed by another. A twig snapped under their feet, whoever they were. I whirled toward the sound and saw nothing. “Come out,” I shouted, looking around, hoping to spot them. “I hear you. Come out and face me.”

     “What does Eren want with you?”

     My eyes darted to the sound of the voice, my eyes landing on a lone figure standing beside a pine tree. “Zeke,” I growled.

     It was unnerving how still he stood. He didn’t move, just watched me. “Tell me what Eren wants with you.”

     “Fuck you,” I shot back. By now the others had smelled him. I could hear them running towards us.

     He smiled, unafraid. “So you’re who they picked to take over Erwin’s pack? How disappointing.”

     “I’ll fucking kill you.”

     “I don’t think so.” His eyes, yellow and cold, flicked in the direction my pack was coming from. They moved back to me. “If you don’t want one of them to die, you’ll tell me why Eren paid you a visit last night.”

     “You mean you don’t know? I thought he was working with you?”

     Zeke’s eyes narrowed into slits. “My patience is wearing thin. Tell me what he wanted.”

     I reached for the sheath on my thigh, hands closing around the hilt of my dagger. And still he never moved. “I’m not telling you shit.”

     “Then I’m wasting my time here.” Without another word, he sprang out at me with unbelievable speed, knocking me backward before I could raise my hand. He pinned me beneath him, knocking the dagger aside, but his eyes were focused on something behind us. He waited, motionless, as if listening to something, then his gazed moved down to my face and he said, “We’ll meet again, Levi. You can count on that.” And just like that, he was off me. I sat up, fast and ready, but he was already gone.

     The others reached me then.

     “Are you hurt?” Isabel dropped to her knees beside me, inspecting my body for any injuries. There were none. “Who was it? Was it the alpha from last night?” When I stayed silent, she said, in alarm, “Levi, who was it?”

     “Zeke,” I said thickly. “It was Zeke.”

     And Eren hadn’t been with him.

     They weren’t working together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all the lovely peeps who left me a comment on the first chapter. I never have enough time to respond, because work drains me, but I do read all of the comments I get, and I'm so grateful. ♡

“We can’t stay here.” Farlan smacked his hand down on the table to drive his point home. Isabel flinched at the sound, nerves taut from the rising tension in the room. “You said we’d be safer at Kenny’s. Why are you changing your mind now? You can’t seriously believe that Eren doesn’t have a hand in Zeke’s plan. They’re brothers.”           

     An uncomfortable silence filled the room as everyone waited for my response. I looked at each of them—Isabel, Farlan, Mike, Hanji, Nanaba, and Petra. All their faces were familiar. They were my family, had been for years, and they trusted me with their lives. If I was going to make a decision that affected us as a pack, they deserved the truth. That’s why I’d called them back into the cabin in the first place. They had every right to know why we were still here and not on the road putting miles between us and the Yeager brothers.

     “As your leader, I need to do what I think is best,” I said, my eyes flicking back to Farlan. He met and held my gaze. “Eren’s not working with Zeke—”

     “How can you be so sure of that? This could’ve been a set up from the start.”

     “That’s what I thought at first, too, but when I mentioned Eren, Zeke’s demeanor changed. The way he behaved... I’m certain they’re not working together.”

     “So, what? You’re just going to run off and perform the blood promise ritual with Eren? Do you know how dangerous that is?”

     “I’m aware of the risks.” I pushed back in my seat, stood, and strode to the front window. The blood promise needed to be approached with caution. Once my soul was bound to Eren’s, there would be no turning back. We’d need to fulfill the promise in order to break the spell. Until then, our thoughts and emotions would be linked to one another’s. Everything I felt, he’d feel. Everything I thought, he’d know of it. Like that, we’d be completely open to one another, no secrets between us. I blew out a breath as that sank in, and then said, “I want to talk to Eren. There are things we should discuss with him before the next full moon.”

     “So you’re really planning to go through with this?” Farlan stood up so fast he knocked his chair back. He took a step toward me, but Mike put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed, a silent warning.

     “Are you sure this is the right step to take?” Hanji asked as she stooped down to pick up the chair Farlan had tipped over. She straightened it. “If we seek Eren out, and change our mind afterwards, there’s no telling what he can do.”

     If there was any other way to keep my pack safe from Zeke, I’d take it, but everything Eren had said last night had been true. Zeke had gathered too many recruits over the past six months, since he’d murdered Grisha. With each one, he became stronger and harder to avoid. The only hope we had to put an end to him was to join forces and work together. Otherwise more members of our packs would die.

     “This is the only step we can take,” I said, turning around to face them. _I won’t lose any of you; not to Zeke, not to anyone._ “No more running.”

     Mike took his hand off Farlan’s shoulder. “If you’re sure about doing this, we should have Hanji find Eren with a locator spell as soon as possible. We don’t have a lot of time left.”

     “Exactly,” I said. “Which is why I believe Eren is still close by. If what he said is true, and I am the only one strong enough to be bound to him, then he hasn’t gone far. He’s too desperate.” I turned to Hanji. “Can you perform a locator spell without your things?”

     She untied the sheath from around her thigh and pulled her Kris dagger free. The blade caught the light as she pointed it at me. “Yes, but it has to be you. You’re the one who’s come into contact with him. The connection will be stronger that way.” Without a word, I stepped up to her and held out my hand. She dragged the blade across my palm, over the line of fate, and then said, as blood welled up from the wound, “ _Kasuta seda vere energiat_ _._ _Leidke, Eren Yeager_.”

     The room around me melted away and an aerial view of the cabin came into focus, as though I were seeing it through the eyes of a hawk. Then, suddenly, it swooped down into the forest, rushing past trees, a stream where a herd of deer had stopped for a drink, over a fallen log and into a small clearing where a tent had been set up. Five members of Eren’s pack were huddled around a campfire. Two more were lying in the tall grass. That was one more than I saw last night. I caught a glimpse of the unaccounted boy before I snapped back into the room with the others. They were all staring at me, expectant.

     “I know where he is,” I said. “And I was right. He’s still nearby, in the forest.”

     Hanji drew her index finger down the cut on my palm and stated, “ _Sulgema._ ” The wound glowed blue, skin stitching together as her magic healed it. When it was done, her eyes darted to mine. In this low light, they appeared almost black. “We need to go now.”

     “I know.”

     Farlan clenched and unclenched his hands, jaw strained tight, but he didn’t utter a word of protest. This was harder on him than it was for the rest of us. Zeke had captured his mother days after killing Erwin. The thought of working with his brother didn’t sit well with him.   

     “This is temporary,” I assured him, to ease his mind some. “We will find and kill Zeke. And once we do, we’re done with Eren Yeager.”

     That seemed to help him compose himself. He nodded once and said, “Let’s go have a chat with him, then.”

     All of us gathered outside the cabin. The bracelets on Hanji’s wrist jingled when she pointed ahead, in the direction we’d need to enter the forest to find the clearing. The faint tattoos that wrapped around her arms were pulsing with blue light. That wasn’t a good sign. They only did that when another mage was near.

     “A mage in Eren’s pack?” I asked.

     “Yes. Whoever they are, they are strong. We have to watch out for them.”

     “They hid themselves well last night. They didn’t want us to know about them.” I turned towards the forest. “They could have hidden Eren’s location from us. Why did they allow us to find him?”

     “Because he wants to be found,” Hanji said. “He knows we’re coming now.”

     That made me uneasy. Was I leading my pack into a trap? Would Eren attack us on sight, or had he been sincere when he’d told me he wanted his brother dead? I didn’t trust him, and even though I wanted to believe we were on the same side, I wouldn’t put my pack at risk.

     “I’ll go alone,” I said.

     “No, you won’t.” That came from Farlan at the same time Isabel said, “I’m not letting you go alone.”

     “We’re a pack. We protect each other.” Mike came to stand in front of me, along with Nanaba. “We fight together, or we don’t fight at all.”

     “But you’re my responsibility—”

     “We are stronger as a pack,” Mike continued.

     “He’s right.” Hanji put her hand on my shoulder. “We’re stronger as a pack. If Eren tries to take us by surprise, we’ll be ready.”

     They were right. They’d learned to stick together after what had happened to Erwin. He’d ventured out on his own, and that was the last time we’d seen him. That morning Mike had offered to come with him, too, but Erwin had turned him down. If he’d only accepted, maybe he would still be alive.

     I couldn’t make the same mistake. They couldn’t lose two leaders, not at a time like this.

     “We’ll all go,” I said.

     “We would have followed you, anyway. There’s no way in hell we would’ve let you go alone.” Nanaba grinned as she jerked her head to the side. “Ready?”

     I waved her forward. “Go on, then.”

     The forest was familiar as I led them through it, but knowing there was a potential enemy nearby made the hairs on the back of my neck bristle. Every noise, from a squirrel skittering up a tree to a bird chirping overhead, sounded too loud and alarming. My instincts picked up on my wariness and brought the wolf in me to the surface, senses sharpening, canines growing too long, curving at the tips, vision heightening and showing me the forest in a different light. I wondered how Eren would take it if I approached him like this.

     When we reached the stream, the sound of running water put me on high alert. I signaled for the others to go first, and as they crossed, splashing, kicking up water, I listened and sniffed the air for any threats. Beneath the scents of my pack, and the distinct smells of moss and mud, was a scent I had a hard time placing. It smelled so out of place here, like the ocean air and something else... Something sweet...

     “Levi,” Hanji called from the other side of the stream. She gestured for me to make my way across.

     I shook my head to clear my mind of that scent and stepped into the shallow water. The current lapped against my calves as I waded across.

     “You were distracted,” Hanji said when I climbed out on the other side. The bottom of my jeans clung to my legs.

     “I thought I smelled something.”

     She tilted her head back and inhaled, brows drawing together. “What was it that you smelled?”

     “It’s nothing,” I said. “Let’s keep going.”

     That scent wouldn’t leave my mind. I’d smelled it before, but where?

     I pushed the thought aside. We were too close to the clearing to get distracted now.

     The closer we got to Eren’s pack, the louder my instincts shouted at me to put my pack behind me, where they would be safe. I moved to the front, and just as I did, an arrow whizzed past my face, cutting my cheek.

     “Get down,” Petra hissed.

     Farlan crouched and pulled Isabel down with him. “Where did that come from?”

     “Up ahead,” Mike said. He scanned my face. “That’s too clean of a cut. They missed you on purpose.”

     I swiped my thumb over the slash. The blood was hot on my skin. “A warning?”

     “Or a test, to see if we came prepared for an attack.”

     Every one of us was carrying a weapon, but no one had reached for them. Wasn’t this enough proof?

     “Send your leader out,” I shouted, standing up.

     “Levi!” Isabel clutched at my pant leg, trying to yank me back down, but I swiped her hand aside and stepped forward.

     A moment passed. Then another. Finally, a voice chased away the silence.

     “So, you came after all.” Eren walked into my line of sight, a boy no older than twelve at his side. The boy was the one who’d grazed me with an arrow. He still held his bow.

     In the morning light that filtered through the trees, Eren Yeager looked a lot different than he had last night. Lithe and fit, he towered over me in nothing but a pair of jogger sweatpants. His deep brown hair went past his shoulders, and his tanned skin showed how much time he spent out in the sun. He was a man of the elements, wild and untamed... and dangerous. Yes, he was more dangerous than any other alpha I’d encountered.  

     He took a step closer to me.

     “Don’t come any closer,” I warned.

     He raised his hands, an amused smile lighting up his face. “Do I frighten you?”

     “Don’t patronize me. I came here to talk about what you suggested last night. If you want me to stay, call off your mutt.”

     “Mutt? Who? Falco?” Eren laughed and put his hand on top of the boy’s head, mussing his short blonde hair. “Hear that, little man? He called you a mutt.”

     The boy, Falco, narrowed his eyes at me, but slung the bow over his head. The string lay across his chest, while the bow itself rested on top of the quiver on his back. “I’m not a mutt,” he said.

     “You don’t shoot like a mutt, I’ll give you that much.” I turned my face to the side, so he could see the slash on my cheek. “Were you aiming for my head?”

     “No. My orders were to give you a scratch on the cheek.”

     “Orders, huh?” My eyes lifted to Eren’s. They were such an intense shade of green, I had to look away. “Well, you carried them out perfectly.”

     Eren took another step toward me. This time, I stood my ground. “A cut like that should be an easy fix for your mage.”

     Now it was my turn to take a step closer to him. I didn’t like that he’d brought up Hanji. Did he want her to heal my wound so he could compare her strength to his own mage? “You sure like to run your filthy mouth,” I said, hating how I had to tip my head back to look him in the face. “Last night you seemed desperate for me to agree to do the blood promise ritual with you. Now you’re sitting here flapping your lips like we have all the time in the world. Are we going to discuss where we’re going from here, or not?”

     “And you say I have a filthy mouth.” He didn’t seem displeased by the way I spoke to him. On the contrary, he looked amused, which pissed me off. “Our camp is not far from here. We can talk things out there.”

     “I’m not going anywhere with you until you confirm that you mean us no harm.”

     Fast as a whip, he snatched my chin and forced my head back. He leaned forward, bringing our faces inches apart. “If I wanted to hurt you,” he said, smiling when I growled and bared my teeth, “you’d know it.”

     “Don’t touch me.” I yanked my chin out of his grasp, but raised my hand to keep my pack from advancing. “Just lead the way to your shitty camp.”

     “Then follow me.”

     It took me a moment too long to fall into step with him. The scent from earlier, the one I was so sure I’d smelled before—it was him. This close, there was no mistaking it.

     “If you try anything,” I began when the clearing came into view, but he cut me off before I could finish.

     “I won’t. You’re not my enemy, and I am not yours. I never have been.”

     The woman who came charging at me a second later seemed to think otherwise. She was cat-quick, but Eren was faster. He put himself between her and me. I almost crashed into his back, stunned by his speed.

     “Mikasa, enough,” he said in an authoritative voice that demanded obedience. When she didn’t listen, he placed his hands on her shoulders and said, again, “Enough.”

     This time she stepped back, but her eyes never left mine. They were big and dark, depthless. “He can’t be trusted. He smells like Zeke.”

     “Are you an idiot?” I stepped around Eren to face her. I didn’t need his protection. “Why do you think I’m here? That I changed my mind after I denied your leader’s offer last night? Zeke came to our cabin this morning and attacked me. If he hadn’t shown up asking questions about your leader, I would be miles away from here by now.”

     “He asked about me? Did you tell him anything about what happened last night? About the blood promise?” Eren asked, alarmed.

     I scoffed. “Do I look brainless to you? After I figured out you two weren’t working together, I kept that bit of information to myself.”

     “I don’t mean to interrupt,” Farlan said, “but we have _more_ company.”

     My eyes flicked past Mikasa, and sure enough, the rest of Eren’s pack had gathered behind her. The mage was easy to spot among them. Her arms were covered in tattoos that glowed gold, runes that granted her strength, protection, and healing. She was tall, with olive skin and almond-shaped eyes framed by dark lashes. She must’ve sensed me staring, because she looked my way. Her gaze was steady, unflinching.

     “That’s Ymir,” Eren said. “One of our mages.”

     “One?”

     “Historia is the other.”

     A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped out from behind Ymir. Her tattoos were pale, white-gold. They blended well with her fair skin. “It’s nice to meet you,” she greeted.

     Ymir snorted. “Not really.”

     Eren ignored her and introduced the rest of his pack. “The one with the mullet over there is Jean. And the guy next to him is Armin. You’ve met the rest.”

     “So I have,” I said.

     Farlan decided to introduce himself. He came forward and said, “I’m Farlan.”

     “Isabel here.” She gave them a peace sign, which earned her an eyeroll from Ymir.

     “Mike.”

     “Petra.”

     Nanaba gave the two-finger salute. “You can call me Nanaba.”

     “And I’m Hanji.”

     “A very powerful mage,” Ymir said with a sneer.

     “As you are,” Hanji shot back.

     They were sizing each other up, seeing which one out of the two was stronger. Their tattoos glowed brighter as they reached out with magic, blue and gold shining so brilliantly, the colors washed out to white. When they had their answer, the runes dimmed and faded to a color only a shade darker than their skin.

     Ymir tsked and turned her head. I took that as a sign that Hanji had proven to be stronger.

     “Perhaps we should move on to more important matters,” Historia said as she put her hand on Ymir’s arm. She spoke to her in hushed whispers, in a language I didn’t know.

     “That we should,” Mike agreed. “But may I suggest moving to a different location. If Zeke is still nearby, he can easily find us here. Or he may send someone to spy on us.”

     “I have somewhere we can go, but it’s days away,” Eren said. “We don’t have that kind of time.”

     I eyed him. “Then what are you suggesting we do?”

     “We have three mages here.”

     “A cloaking spell?” Ymir rubbed her hands together. When she pulled them apart, a crackle of gold lightning bounced from palm to palm. “I don’t need the others. I can do it on my own.”

     Hanji smiled. “I doubt that. If you don’t want Zeke’s mage seeing straight through it, you’ll need me and Historia.”

     “You’ve encountered this mage?”

     “Yes, and she is very strong. Stronger than me.”

     That took Ymir aback. “How much stronger?”

     “Strong enough to undo your cloaking spell.” She turned to Eren then. “Give us twenty minutes and we’ll be done, but it won’t hold for longer than a few hours. Make sure you keep that in mind.”

     With reluctance, Ymir followed Hanji and Historia farther into the forest. The rest of us gathered in the center of the clearing. Eren’s pack was quick to make themselves at home, sitting down on a mossy log someone had rolled up to the campfire. While they set up a cooking grate over the flames, I stayed back and watched them. They were all at ease. None of them were afraid that Zeke might be lurking somewhere close. They trusted their leader to keep them safe.

     My eyes found Eren. He was talking with Falco, laughing as the boy told him something humorous. He had crouched down so they were at the same height. That struck me as odd. Most alphas tried to appear overbearing, powerful, but he was doing the exact opposite.

     “This one is not like his brother,” Mike said, coming to stand beside me.

     “No, but that doesn’t mean we should trust him.”

     “Of course not. We don’t know him. But doesn’t it make it a bit easier to agree to do the blood promise ritual now?”

     “Yes,” I said, my eyes still on Eren as he scooped his hair up and tied it back into a messy bun, “it does make it a bit easier.”

     But not by much.

     I was not looking forward to being bound to Eren Yeager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Levi doesn't realize that the guy he doesn't want to be bound to will become his mate in the future:  
> [](https://imgbb.com/)  
> I always make Levi so stubborn, and I don't know why. If Eren were in front of me, I wouldn't hesitate, bitch! I would be in his arms in 0.1 seconds.  
> But, if any of you are interested in how I imagine the mages tattoos to look like, check this out: [ꕤ](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/011/388/401/large/raf-grassetti-freya-ingame-01.jpg?1529344300)  
> When I played God of War 4, I fell in love with Freya's design and it inspired the mages in this fic (especially Hanji).


	3. Chapter 3

“The spell is complete. The cloak covers the entire forest and should keep our whereabouts hidden, even from the likes of Zeke’s mage,” Hanji announced as she ambled back into the clearing with Historia and Ymir close behind her. Their tattoos were fading from a brilliant white to a color no darker than their skin. From the looks of it, they had used enough magic to burn themselves out for a while. “You have two hours to talk. By the third, we need to be long gone, regardless of whether you two have come to an agreement or not.” 

     To that, Eren said, “We’ll come to an agreement. I’m sure of that.” He turned his attention to me and gestured to the log. A moment ago several members of his pack had been sitting there enjoying a simple meal of oatmeal and steamed coffee. Now they were standing off to one side, while my pack stood on the other. They had positioned themselves for a fight. Even the boy, Falco, had drawn his bow.  

     _I won’t let it come to that. No more than I’ll let this alpha run the show. I won’t agree to anything if he doesn’t answer every single one of my questions._

     “That mouth of yours gets more annoying every time you open it,” I pointed out, sitting on the end of the log farthest from him.

     “You sure seem interested in my mouth with how much you mention it.” He smiled when he noticed where I’d sat. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way. I wanted to wipe it off his face with a good slap.

     “Yes. As it happens, I’m very interested in finding a way to keep it shut.”

     The smile widened into something charming, revealing a dimple on his right cheek, but all traces of his playful demeanor vanished when he came to sit down beside me. “That will have to wait for another time. We have a lot to discuss today.” The smoke curling up from the campfire wasn’t enough to overpower his scent. Every time he moved, it filled the air, as warm and comforting as a summer breeze. _I know this scent. Why can’t I remember where I’ve smelled it before?_ When he turned to face me, I snapped out of it and resisted the urge to look away. Those eyes had a way of rattling me to the core. “I’m sure you have questions,” he said as he regarded me with a steady gaze, like he knew what affect his eyes had on me. “Go ahead and ask them.”

     Annoyed, I opted to get straight to the point. “Let’s start off with how you plan on making this work. The blood promise calls for two alphas of equal strength, but as you pointed out yesterday, you’re stronger than me. I’m also an omega.”

     “You’re the leader of your pack. That makes you an alpha in your own right. And like I told you before, you’re strong enough for the ritual to work.”

     “But it won’t work properly,” Hanji intervened. “If what we know about this ritual is true, then if two people of unequal strength perform it, there will be...unpleasant side effects.”

     “Unpleasant or not, it’s nothing we can’t handle,” he said.  

     “Then why don’t you tell us what these side effects are?” I shot back.

     “Should I show him?” Historia stepped forward, sweeping her long golden hair over her shoulder. It cascaded down her back, past her waist.

     Eren pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. “You might as well. I have a feeling he won’t listen to us any other way.”

     She gave him a slow nod, then turned towards me with her hands raised. “May I?”

     “May you what?” I asked.

     “Historia has the ability to see into the near future,” Ymir snapped. “She’s seen you bound to Eren. She wants to show you the visions she’s had.”

     I narrowed my eyes. “How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?”

     “You can’t know. None of us can. Not unless we’re sure she isn’t lying,” Hanji said as she came to stand between Historia and me. She regarded the other mage with a cold, unblinking stare. “Allow me to cast a truth spell. If you have nothing to hide, this should be an easy thing to agree to.”

     Historia held her head up high. “I have nothing to hide. Do as you please.”

     Hanji turned and tipped her head back toward the sun. Her tattoos began to glow, a dull, washed out blue at first, but the longer she stood there, the deeper in color they became. When they were pulsing with light, she knelt and gathered a handful of dirt. _“Päikese võimega kaetud mustus, anna varjud ära ja paljastada tõde,”_ she chanted in an even tone, dipping her fingers in the dirt before she smeared it across Historia’s pale wrists. It darkened and thickened on her skin, appearing like tar. _“Ainult tõde.”_

     “ _Ainult tõde._ Only the truth,” repeated Historia, sealing the spell.

     “That”—Hanji touched the blackened dirt on her wrist—“will burn you if you lie.”

     “I’m aware of that. Can I show your leader the visions now?”

     “Go right ahead.”

     Historia walked up to me in silence, but as she lifted her hands to place them on my head, I snatched her by the wrists. Ymir growled and charged forward, but Mikasa blocked her way.

     Before things could get out of hand, I asked, “Are the visions you’re about to show me real?”

     “Yes.”          

     The dirt remained cool to the touch, so I released her. “Go on then.”

     She set her hands on either side of my head. Her nails dug into my temples, deep enough to draw blood. It trickled down the sides of my face, warm and thick. She used it as a source of power. “Close your eyes,” she instructed. The second they were shut, a hot lick of pain shot down my spine and emanated outward through my body like an electrical shock. I tensed, frozen in place, but soon the feeling subsided. Then there was nothing but darkness and emptiness. _Open your eyes,_ a voice whispered in the gloom. I obeyed, but saw nothing. No, not nothing. Far away, hidden in the sea of blackness, was a vivid blot of color. _Go to it._

But there was no need for that. The color came to me, swelling up bigger and bigger, surrounding me.

     _Is this a vision?_ I asked. I got no reply aside from my voice echoing back to me.

     All around me the colors began to take shape. First a fireplace came into focus, followed by wooden walls, a vaulted ceiling, lush brown carpet, a glass pendant light. Everything fell into place and formed a large room I’d never seen before. Several windows above a massive bed let in a stream of sunlight that illuminated everything in deep shades of gold, including Eren, who stood near a dresser. His hair was unbound and longer than I remembered it. “You can’t go on your own,” he was saying, to someone behind me. His yellow eyes burned bright with anger. “I won’t let you. It’s too dangerous.”

     “I don’t need your permission to do anything, Alpha. I’m going, and that’s that.”

     I recognized my own voice and turned around to see another version of myself standing in the doorway. Nothing about me had changed except for a deep scar on my left eyebrow.

     “Enough of this,” muttered Eren. “I’m so sick of your pretending. We’re connected in every way. I know exactly what you’re feeling. You can try to hide it, but I know you feel something for me.” He stepped forward, _through_ me, and took the other Levi’s hand. “Levi, listen to me for a minute. Just give me a minute—”

     The other me wrenched free. “Don’t delude yourself. I don’t feel anything for you. Not a single damn thing.”

     Eren gritted his teeth, canines growing longer as he fought to contain his anger. He snarled, “Liar.”

     The vision began to blur around the edges, losing shape, and then disappeared entirely. This time when the darkness receded it left me stranded in an unfamiliar forest. Way off in the distance, I could hear the soft murmur of voices. I followed the sound out to the edge of an enormous lake. The black, rippling surface reflected a full moon, and Eren and I sitting across from each other in the grass. Our heads were tipped back, our eyes milky white and unseeing. Hanji, Ymir, and Historia circled around us as they chanted a spell in a language I couldn’t understand. But I knew what was happening. We were performing the ritual.

     _I’ve seen enough,_ I shouted, to be heard over the chanting. _Stop this now._ No one listened. The vision dissolved and another one took its place. In this one, Eren and I were standing across from each other in a dark room. I was leaning back against the wall, and his arms were caging me in.

     We were too close, almost touching.

     “I won’t kiss you unless you want me to,” he said in a deep, raspy voice that was more animal than human. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled. “Tell me you want it.”

     “Don’t act like you don’t know what I want.”

     “I need to hear you say it.”

     With a seductive smile, the other me reached down and cupped his cock through his jeans. “I want it.”

     Eren growled deep in his throat and kissed him, this imposter that would never be me. This vision was a lie, a trick. I wanted out of it.

     _Historia!_ I roared, turning away from the scene. _Enough!_ When nothing happened, I whispered the word Hanji said when she wanted to reverse a spell, desperate to be free of this: _Tühistama._

     Nothing.

     Then...

     From above me, a black hole ripped open and swallowed everything up in seconds. I reached out to grab onto something, anything, but when I blinked my eyes open, I was back in the clearing, breathing hard. Everyone was looking at me.

     “What did you see?” Hanji asked.

     “Exactly what I was supposed to see,” I said, hoping no one heard the catch in my voice. “Eren and I will perform the blood promise ritual four days from now.”

     Historia eyed me. “What about the other—”

     “That’s all I saw that mattered! Those other things you showed me will never happen.” I needed to get away, to think. So I rose to my feet and strode into the forest without a backwards glance, but I hadn’t made it far when a hand closed around my wrist. I whipped around, enraged, and broke Eren’s hold on me. “Don’t you dare lay your hands on me.”

     He stepped back to give me some room. “Where are you going?”

     “That doesn’t concern you.”

     “Look, I’ve seen the visions Historia showed you, and I didn’t like what I saw any more than you did, but you can’t go running off. From here on out, we have to stick together.”

     “It won’t happen. What she showed us, it can’t happen. I won’t let it.”

     I expected him to make some offhand remark. Instead, his eyes darkened with fury. “You think I want it to happen?” He took a step closer to me, a challenge in his gaze. “I don’t need that kind of distraction. My main concern is to find my brother and kill him for what he has done. That’s the only thing that matters to me. That’s the only reason we’re here right now!” Another step closed the distance between us. He had me backed up against a tree, and I was too shaken from the visions to do anything but stare up into his eyes. “You have nothing to worry about,” he went on. “I have no interest in you.”

     “Get away from me.”

     “Why? Are you afraid? Or is something else bothering you?” He smiled, a slow taunting smile that only served to fuel my rage. “Are you remembering the way I kissed you?”

     I clenched my teeth. “Why would I remember that? It had no effect on me.”

     “It didn’t?” He leaned in close, so close I could feel his breath on my neck. “Your scent says otherwise.”

     “You’re way too arrogant for your own good.” I threw a punch, but he caught my fist with ease. I swung with my other arm, only to have him catch that one too. “I’ll kill you. I swear I will.”

     “You can’t. You need me.”

     “I don’t.”

     “You do, which is why you’re here.” He released me. The places he had touched burned. “You cut off your connection with Historia before she could show you the final vision.”

     “I have no reason to see it.”

     “You had every reason to see it. It would have shown you the side effects that we’ll be facing in just a few days, but I suppose none of that matters now. What we saw will happen. Historia’s visions always come true. We’re powerless to stop it.” Without another word, he turned and walked back the way we came, leaving me feeling hollow.

     _What am I supposed to do now? If I bind my soul to Eren’s, will the other visions come true?_

     By the time I headed back to the clearing, fallen leaves crunching beneath my feet every step of the way, I had come to a decision. I would see this through. What other choice did I have? In order to keep my pack safe, sacrifices needed to be made. So if binding myself to Eren would help me get rid of the threat that was Zeke Yeager, then so be it, but I’d never succumb to him. Those visions meant nothing.

     “You were gone for a while. We were about to come looking for you,” Isabel said when she spotted me striding out of the forest. She ran up to me, with Hanji and Farlan not far behind her. The three of them talked over one another to tell me Eren wanted us to come with him to a secure location on the outskirts of the city. It was a two day drive from here, so we wouldn’t have a problem getting there in time to perform the ritual under the full moon. Of course we wouldn’t. That alpha seemed to have it all figured out. Somehow he knew that, in the end, I would accept his offer.           

     _Historia’s visions always come true._

An icy chill crept over me. I ignored it. No matter what happened, I would not let all of them come true.

     “Eren claims it’s safe where he wants to take us.” Farlan gave me an uneasy look. “Are we going with him? You seemed off after that mage showed you—”

     “I’m fine now,” I lied.

     “Are you?” That came from Hanji, who gazed at me as though she knew I was keeping something from them. “You haven’t told us what you saw in the visions.”

     “I told you what you needed to know.”

     Ymir flagged us down. Glad for the interruption, I breathed out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. Eren stood beside her and said, “We need to hit the road. We have a van parked near your cabin. You can follow us—”

     “One of yours needs to come with us if we’re going to be following you.” I met his gaze, daring him to argue with me. “Otherwise the deal is off.”

     “Are you always this stubborn, little one? But have it your way, I’ll join you.”

     “Anyone but you.”

     “Ouch. Harsh.” He didn’t appear offended as he looked down at me. If anything, he looked calm. “I’m not so bad once you get to know me.”

     “I’d rather not get to know you.”

     “But you will,” he said. “Very well.”

     I wouldn’t let him provoke me anymore. “If you’re coming, you’re sitting in the back of the truck.”

     “Will you be keeping me company?”

     _This tall bastard is trying his best to get a rise out of me._ “No.”

     “Too bad. You’re fun to tease.” He turned to Ymir. “Tell the others I’ll be riding with Levi’s pack. We can meet at the gas station on the corner of Maida Road. You know the one I’m talking about? Good. We’ll go from there.”

     She looked from him to me and asked, “Is that a good idea?”

     “It’ll be fine. We’ve come to an understanding.”

     And what understanding was that? That we wanted nothing to do with each other, but were willing to set aside our differences to put an end to his brother? That we had seen visions of a future neither of us desired, but were heading towards it anyway for the sake of our packs? We were both leaders. We were both responsible for the wellbeing of our pack members. I knew and accepted that when I rose to the position, but still, I never expected something like this. Bounding my soul to some stranger’s was too much.

     _Is that really what I’m afraid of? Or am I afraid of what it’s going to lead to? Those visions... That kiss..._

     I shook my head, exhausted. Too many things had happened today. I was eager to be out on the open road, surrounded by my family. Maybe then I’d stop thinking about all this, at least for a little while.  

     “We’re wasting time we don’t have,” I said, jerking my head in the direction of the cabin, back where we’d left Mike’s truck. My pack members understood at once and went on their way. Before I joined them, I lifted my gaze to Eren’s to find him already looking at me. That threw me off so completely, the words I’d meant to say stuck in my throat. I forced them out anyway. “If you’re coming with us, you better hurry up.”

     “Lead the way.”

     So I did, through the forest, across the stream, and down the dirt path that led to the cabin that had been my home for the past year. After today, I wouldn’t see it again, not until Zeke had been dealt with.

     “That’s going to be a tight fit,” Eren said as he eyed the truck. It was the first time he’d spoken since we’d left the clearing.

     “Two need to ride in the back.”

     “Me and who else?”

     I was in the middle of thinking about who would be willing to sit with him when Farlan climbed into the bed of the truck. “Guess you’re stuck with me,” he said with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. I knew him well enough to see the anger that smile hid.

     “I want no problems,” I told him.

     “Don’t worry. You won’t get any problems from me.”

     “And none from me.” Eren jumped over the side of the truck and landed between Farlan’s outstretched legs. He sat down on the opposite side of him.

     I didn’t like this set up. Farlan distrusted Eren solely because he was related to Zeke. Being alone with him for hours couldn’t lead to anything good. “Are you sure you want to sit back here?” I asked. “Maybe Nanaba or Mike would be a—”

     “I’m fine, Levi. Really. I won’t try anything, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

     “Even if he tries anything,” Eren began, stretching his arms above his head with a grunt, “I won’t hurt him. That’s what you’re really worried about, right?” What he’d said went into one ear and came out the other. He hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on, so I could clearly see his shoulder and chest muscles flex as he continued to stretch. He had a strong build, all lean and sinewy. “See something that you like? You’re staring.”

     I came back to myself all at once, too aware of the heat creeping up my neck. Why had I been staring? Had Farlan noticed? Those visions had messed with my head. “All I see is a shirtless idiot,” I bit out, relieved when Nanaba threw open the back door for me. Ignoring Eren, I climbed inside.

     “Are you feeling okay? Don’t let that alpha get to you,” she said as I sat down beside her. 

     “Don’t worry. He’s not.”

     She stared at me, no doubt smelling the hint of embarrassment that tainted my scent. She chose not to comment on it. For that I was grateful.

     Hanji swiveled around in the front seat to look at me. She was sitting between Mike and Petra. “Ready to go?”

     I glanced to my right, where Nanaba and Isabel were sitting, then to the back of me. Farlan and Eren sat in stony silence. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

     Mike turned the key in the ignition and the engine rumbled to life. He backed out of our gravel driveway, turned onto a dirt road, and drove towards the gas station where we would meet up with the others. And all the while I sat there thinking about how I was taking a step closer to making those visions real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who were with me the first time around, you probably recognize this as the last chapter I posted before I up and deleted this fic. So, next chapter will be brand new for everyone. I'm actually really excited. I've daydreamed about this story so much, I'm happy I'll be able to write it all out. I say that so enthusiastically, but if you're a writer like me, you know the struggle is real. Still, I'll try my best! :)


	4. Chapter 4

My feet pounded against the earth as I ran through an unfamiliar forest, with nothing but the moonlight to guide me around trees. Cold air beat at my face with each step. It made it hard to breathe, almost impossible, but slowing down wasn’t an option.

     _Where am I? Who’s chasing me?_

     I didn’t stop to find out. Something _was_ after me, something dangerous and out for blood. Every instinct I had told me to keep running, to get away from the threat. But it was closing in on me, moving faster by the second, growling as the distance between us grew shorter and shorter. It sounded excited. Why? What did it want with me?

     “You can run all you want,” a low voice said, “but I’m still going to catch you.”

     A chill swept down my spine. Goosebumps rose on my arms. I knew that voice, had heard it before, but where?

     Before I had a chance to pinpoint it, the thing grabbed onto my shoulders and whipped me around. My eyes collided with yellow, piercing ones. They held my gaze as I took a step back. I needed to get away. Now.

     “Oh, no, little one. That won’t do.” It wrapped its arm around my waist to keep me from taking another step and drew me closer. Our chests met. My heart thumped harder and faster at the feel of its— _it’s a man, you can’t deny that anymore_ —body pressed against mine. My wolf essence rushed to the surface in response. He nodded in approval as my fangs extended. “Yes, show me everything. I want to see all of you.” He dipped his head, breath hot on my neck, and I went limp in his arms. “I won’t let you get away, Levi, now or ever. You’re mine.”

     “Eren,” I said.

     _That’s right, it’s him. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it all along, like this has happened before, but...differently._

     My thoughts jerked to a stop when he lowered his head, his lips almost touching mine. “Don’t,” I said, too loud. “I don’t want you to.”

     “Liar.”

     It wasn’t a lie. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want him. Yet, when he leaned in again, I closed my eyes, waiting, waiting—

     A rush of elemental power hit me in the chest with such force, my eyes flew open. Hanji’s face hovered inches above my own.

     _What the hell?_

     “Whoops, maybe I hit you a little too hard,” she said. Her tattoos were pulsing with light, which meant she’d used her damned magic on me. “Don’t look at me like that. I had to do something. You were out cold.”

     Out cold? Had I been asleep? That meant that thing with Eren... It was a dream?

     _For fuck’s sake! Now I’m dreaming about that alpha? What did those visions do to my head?_

“Why did you wake me?” I asked, taking in my surroundings. Mike’s truck. We were still on the road. At least we were supposed to be, but one look out the back window told me otherwise. “Where are we? Why have we stopped?”

     “We’re about a twenty-minute drive from the interstate, somewhere in the mountains. Eren asked us to stop for a few hours, to give his pack enough time to rest.”

     “Is he insane? We’ve only been on the road for a day. If we stop now, that can give Zeke enough time to catch up to us.”

     “You’re going to have to take that up with him. He won’t listen to any of us.”

     I clenched my teeth. “Stay here. I’ll take care of this.”

     I threw open the back door and stepped out of the truck, greeted by a gust of warm wind that carried various scents to me. Coffee. Eggs. Sausage. I followed the scent of cooking meat around the back of the truck and found Eren’s pack sitting around a small campfire they built. They appeared at home out here in the middle of the mountains. Were they used to living out of their van? Had it been like this for them since the death of Grisha Yeager?

     That didn’t matter. What mattered was Eren was nowhere to be seen. Where had that bastard gone?

     “Where’s your leader?” I demanded.

     Ymir glanced up from her plate of food and offered me an amused smile. “Looks like sleeping beauty finally woke up.” When I remained silent, she added, “Had any good dreams?”

     “Where’s your leader?”

     “Come on, humor me. Had any good dreams...little one?”

     Realization hit me like a brick. Had she done something to prompt the dream I had?

     “You,” I snarled. “What did you do?”

     “Nothing you couldn’t have stopped. It was too easy to get into your head, Omega. You shouldn’t let your guard down like that. Next time I won’t give you such a pleasant dream.”

     All mages manifested special gifts during their adolescence. Hanji had the ability to alter reality, to make people see things that weren’t there. Historia had visions of the future, and now I just discovered that Ymir was capable of influencing someone’s dreams. I’d heard of the gift before, but had never come across a mage able to do it. Even so, she had no right to invade my personal space like that.

     Fueled by anger, I moved before I had time to think. I reached her in three steps. “Stay out of my head or—”

     “Or what?” she said as she stood to face me head on. Her tattoos blazed, a challenge in her eyes.

     Unbelievable. She was belittling me in front of Eren’s pack, trying to show them that I wasn’t fit to be bound to their leader. Did she think I’d roll over and let her get away with this? Omega or not, I wasn’t weak.   

     My lips pulled back to reveal long, pointed fangs. Teeth made for ripping and tearing. I’d shred this insolent mage to pieces. “Open your mouth one more time and I’ll show you exactly what I’ll do,” I growled.

     Ymir held her head high, too proud to back down.

     Historia’s eyes flicked from me to Ymir and back again. She shot up from her seat and came to stand between us. “That’s enough,” she said.

     I glared at her. “Move aside.”

     Her tattoos brightened to a silvery-gold. She turned her full attention to Ymir. “Stop this. Now.”

     I curled my hands into fists, newly formed claws biting into my palms. I already had my doubts about this whole thing, having some mage fuck with my dreams wasn’t helping any—especially when it came to Eren Yeager. The last thing I needed was to be reminded of the visions Historia had shown me. I didn’t want to think about what binding myself to him would lead to.    

     And the kiss we’d shared in the last vision I’d seen—What would that lead to?

     I never wanted to find out.

     But I would. There were only three days left until the next full moon, until life as I knew it came to an end.

     My attention snapped back to the here and now when a large hand settled on my chest and eased me back a few steps, away from Ymir. I looked up and my eyes crashed with Eren’s.

     “Explain this to me,” he said, calm despite his pack’s obvious unease.

     I brushed his hand off me. “Why don’t you ask your mage what this is about?”

     “I asked you.”

     I didn’t want to deal with this, or him. We needed to get back on the road. The longer we stayed here, the more vulnerable we became. If Zeke had followed us from the cabin, which I had no doubt of, he could be on us in a matter of minutes. Or was that Eren’s plan? Did he want his brother to find us here? I hadn’t dared to sleep the first twenty-four hours on the road, too alert to rest, but when I’d finally succumbed to fatigue, he decided to stop. Why?

     Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he was working with Zeke.

     “What are you planning, Alpha?” I said, inching closer to him, fangs in full view. “Why have we stopped?”

     Instead of showing alarm at my display of aggression, he smiled and tapped the underside of my chin. “That look suits you, little one.”

     “Don’t call me that. And answer my question.”

     “I’m not planning anything you don’t already know. Our packs needed rest. A few hours is all we need.”

     “A few hours is too long,” I argued as I considered ripping out his throat. That little stunt wouldn’t work, though. No matter what he claimed, he was much stronger than me. As a true alpha leader, he had formed a mental connection with his pack that he could call upon at any moment. He had his own strength, plus theirs. I only had mine. My connection with my pack died with Erwin. Not that that meant they wouldn’t risk their lives for me. They would. But without that mental link, we would come up short in a fight against another pack.

     “You’re concerned about Zeke showing up,” Eren said. He spat his brother’s name out like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “You don’t have to worry about that. He won’t come after us yet, not until he figures out what we’re up to. He’s too cautious to rush into things blind.”

     “You don’t know that for sure.”      

     “I do, because I know him. He won’t confront us without knowing our angle, and that’s what I’m counting on. By the time he pieces everything together, it’ll be too late. We will have already completed the Blood Promise.” He tipped his head back, gazing up at the cloudless blue sky. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not keeping an eye on us. I have no doubt that his mage is tracking us.”

     “How is that any better?” I snapped.

     He regarded me again. “Because it doesn’t matter if he knows where we are. The place I’m taking you is safe, even from him.” Before I had a chance to form my next question, he went on with, “Even from his mage.”

     “He’s telling you the truth,” Historia said. “The place we’re going to is well-hidden by magic—very old, powerful magic. The spell used to conceal it has been reinforced for hundreds of years by generations of mages in my family. Zeke can’t come within twenty feet of it, and his mage will have no power there.” She drew up her white skirt and pulled a curved dagger from a sheath belted at her thigh. She held her hand out and recited, in a monotone voice, “ _Ma olen tõsi._ I am true.” She swiped the blade across her palm, but no cut appeared. She hadn’t lied to me.

     Unlike the other mage in Eren’s pack, this one was ready and willing to prove herself the only way she could, with magic. I still didn’t trust her, or any of them, but I believed her and that would have to do for now.

     “Well, that’s that.” Hanji came to stand beside me, along with the rest of my pack. They had grown tired of waiting in the truck. “That proves that she isn’t lying through her teeth.”

     Ymir said, “Watch yourself.”

     Hanji only smiled in response.

     “Are we done here? I haven’t been able to eat, let alone touch my food.” That came from the man with a mullet. What was his name again? Jean?

     Eren turned to him. “Go ahead and eat, all of you. When you’re through, we’re hitting the road again.” He glanced at my pack. “Feel free to join them.”

     Isabel immediately plopped down next to Falco with a huge smile on her face. “Don’t mind if I do.”

     The rest of my pack looked to me for permission.

     When would I get used to being their leader?

     _How did you do this, Erwin?_

“It’s okay,” I said, waving them forward.

     As they all found an empty spot around the campfire, Eren returned his attention to me. He tapped the underside of my chin again, but this time he lingered longer than necessary. “What about you? You must be hungry.”

     “I’ll pass.” I jerked my chin away from his hand. “And the next time you touch me, I’m ripping off your arm.”

     “Your eyes,” he said, like I hadn’t just threatened to mutilate him. “They set you apart from all the omegas I’ve met. I’ve never seen anyone other than alphas have the strength to hold their partial shift long enough for their eye color to change. Just how strong are you, little one?”

     I’d forgotten that I had partially shifted. The eyes he was gazing into were a vibrant, unnatural blue. My wolf eyes.

     “This is nothing, Alpha.” I turned my back to him, through with this conversation, but as I walked to the truck, I still felt his eyes on me. “For someone who claims to have no interest in me, you sure are staring.” I looked at him over my shoulder, hoping to find him seething. No such luck. The bastard was grinning at my comment. God, he ticked me off.

     “I don’t have an interest in you,” he said, “but I never said you weren’t attractive.”

     My legs stopped without my permission. I stood there, unable to think of a single thing to say to that. He didn’t seem to be looking for a response, though. He went and joined his pack.

     He found me attractive? Was that what would drive us toward makingthat particular vision real, the one where we’d kissed? Physical attraction?

     Relief washed through me. I could handle physical attraction. It was the thought of falling for him that unsettled me.

     “Are you joining them?” Farlan hopped down from the hood of the truck to come stand next to me. He gestured to the campfire, where everyone was eating.

     “No,” I said.

     “Neither am I.”

     “Don’t let me hold you back. You should eat some—”

     “No,” he bit out, his gaze landing on Eren. His eyes narrowed, nothing but hatred and anger in them.

     The truth sank in then. Nothing could happen between me and Eren, not even on a physical level. Farlan was my family and he’d accepted me as his leader without question. He trusted me to make the right decisions. If I allowed those visions to come true, it would come between us and no alpha was worth tearing my pack apart.

     I glanced at Eren one last time, watching him sweep his long hair up into a low bun. Physical attraction or not, nothing would make me betray one of my pack members.

 

△

 

Everyone except for me had taken a turn riding in the back with Eren. I was through coming up with excuses, so after we packed everything up, I climbed into the bed of the truck and sat right up against the tailgate. To my surprise, no one questioned me.

     “Finally going to keep me company?” Eren said as he eased himself into the spot beside me.

     “You don’t have to sit next to me.”

     “I know.”

     _This irritating little shit._

     I shot him a glare, noting how “little” didn’t even begin to describe him. The man was tall, his legs stretching far past mine. He had to be over six feet, which led me to wonder how big he’d be in his wolf form. Would his fur be the same color as his hair, that deep shade of brown that brought out his green eyes? The same eyes that were making their way down my body.

     “Eyes up here, big boy.” I flicked my fingers up to draw his attention away from my thighs.

     “I was looking at your arm. You have some tattoos of your own.”

     Hanji had given me the tattoos after Erwin died. They were protection runes, inked into my skin with ancient spells. Although they weren’t as strong as hers, they did heighten my senses in and out of my wolf form. They always kept me on high alert and even helped me heal wounds faster.

     “That’s not what you were looking at,” I said.

     Why was I pushing the issue? I should have dropped it while I had the chance.

     Instead of going along with me, Eren grabbed the hem of his black T-shirt and lifted it up past his chest. He traced invisible lines over his right pec, then down toward his side, all while chanting an incantation under his breath. Runes appeared. The markings shone bright orange, as though he were glowing from the inside out. I wanted to reach out and touch him, to feel the elemental power emanating off the tattoos with my own hands. It took all the willpower I had to refrain from doing just that.

     Whoever had given him those markings... They were a powerful mage.

     As if reading my mind, Eren said, “My mother gave me these two days before she died. I never got a chance to ask her why, but I’m sure she was trying to protect me from something.”

     “From Zeke?”

     “I don’t know.” He lowered his shirt and the tattoos dimmed. “Maybe there’s more to this than just Zeke. And if there is, I’m certain she figured it out and it’s what cost her her life. My dad’s, too.”

     “How did she die?”

     He bared his teeth, a snarl rising from his throat. “No one knows. Zeke found her in her greenhouse. At the time, no one suspected foul play. No one suspected _him._ Then, a week later, he challenged my dad and killed him in front of our entire pack. And I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop him. I couldn’t save either of my parents.”  

     Zeke had taken everything from him—his home, his family, his life. Part of me wanted to believe he was lying, overexaggerating the truth, but the other part knew he wasn’t. The pain in his eyes was too real to be fake or forced.

     “You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you all of this,” he went on, before giving me a chance to gather my thoughts. “In a few days, we’ll be bound together, both body and mind. There won’t be any secrets between us, but I needed you to hear this directly from me. You have to know why I’m going this far to get to my brother. You have to understand that it has to be me...” He clenched his teeth and looked away. “ _I_ have to be the one who kills him. No one else but me.”

     If he hadn’t just confided in me, I would have argued. I’d imagined ripping Zeke apart too many times to let someone else handle him. He killed my leader, someone I’d trusted with my life, but Eren had lost more. He’d been betrayed by someone who should have protected him from anything and everything. I had no idea what it felt like to be him, to lose everything to a man he called “older brother.”

     “He’s yours to kill,” I said, “but I want to be there when you do.”

     “That won’t be a problem.”

     “Then we have an understanding. You don’t have to worry about me interfering.”

     He nodded once. “Thank you, Levi.”

     That was the first time he’d said my name without disgust. We still weren’t friends, far from it, but we were getting somewhere. We had found common ground.

     “Don’t get used to it, Alpha,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I still don’t like you.”

     He gave me no response, only laughed, and as we drove toward the interstate, for the first time I felt like I wasn’t making a mistake in putting my trust in him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's how I picture Eren's tattoos when he reveals them: [🐺](https://thewallpaper.co/preview/?wallpaper=prince-of-persia-best-desktop-background-high-definition-wallpaper-download-prince-of-persia-images-best-backgrounds-hd-free-images-colors-1600x1000)  
> They won't appear unless he recites the incantation his mother taught him or he's under attack. Carla had a reason for keeping them hidden, I wonder what that reason is? (I mean, I know, but you guys won't find out for a while) 👀  
> Anywho, thank you so SO much for the comments and love on the previous chapter. You guys are fab. <3


	5. Chapter 5

The forest surrounding Reiss Manor stretched on for miles. There appeared to be no end to it. As Mike drove down a narrow dirt road that cut straight through it, I kept my eyes on the pine trees on either side of us. There was something about them that seemed off. The way they blurred in the wind made them look unreal, like a glitch. Was magic behind the distortion? If so, how powerful would a mage have to be to cast a spell that covered acres of land?

     “You have a sharp eye,” said Eren from beside me.

     I glanced in his direction. I’d been riding in the back of the truck with him for the past twenty-four hours. In that time, we had only said a handful of words to each other. Still, an entire day was a long time to spend with someone without getting to know a few things about them. For instance, he had a habit of tying his hair in a bun when he was lost in thought. One minute he’d be gazing out into the distance, the next he would be slipping off the tie from around his wrist to sweep his hair back. He also liked to sleep shirtless. It was during one of those times that I noticed a few scars on his back. Scars that had healed years ago, but had left behind prominent marks.

     “Those trees,” I said. “Are they cloaked by magic?”    

     “They are magic.”

     “What?”

     He held his arm over the side of the truck. His hand went through tree trunks as we passed them in a blur. “It’s an illusion.”

     “How is that possible? The amount of magic it would take to sustain a spell like that—”

     “Historia told you, didn’t she? The spell concealing the manor has been reinforced by generations of mages in the Reiss family. This is the work of hundreds of witches.”

     I cast a glance at the trees. Anyone who saw them would’ve thought them real. “Amazing.”

     “You like magic?”

     Magic had always awed me. When I was a boy, I would watch my mother cast spells inside her workshop. Some were as simple as reviving a dead rose, while others were powerful enough to make the earth shake beneath us. But this was a part of myself that he did not need to know.

     “I have no particular interest in it,” I said.

     He smiled as though he knew the truth. “Wait until we cross the gate. This”—he gestured to the forest around us—“is nothing compared to the spell keeping the manor hidden.”

     I pretended to be uninterested, but my eyes betrayed me. I looked up ahead and saw a wrought iron gate in the distance. What kind of magic waited for us beyond it?

     Eren tapped the underside of my chin. The shock of his skin on mine made me whip around. I bared my teeth and growled at him.

     “Don’t touch me so freely, Alpha,” I snapped.

     He examined my face. “Your expression gives your lie away, little one. You like magic.”

     “I told you not to call me that.”

     “Would you prefer little wolf, then?”

     “I would prefer my name.”

     With a knowing smile on his face, he ignored me in favor of rapping the side of the truck several times. The brake lights flashed as Mike brought the truck to a stop. Eren immediately hopped over the side and walked up to the van slowing down behind us. Before he could reach it, the side door slid open and the boy, Falco, came bounding out. He went running into Eren’s arms.

     “Hey there, little man,” Eren said, ruffling his hair.

     Falco smiled up at him, beaming, but it disappeared when he caught sight of me. He stepped back and straightened up, blue eyes going cold.

     “You should show your elders some respect, brat,” I said.

     “Respect is earned,” he shot back.

     I stood up and jumped over the tailgate. Falco held his ground as I strode up to him. I’d sensed it right from the beginning, from the way he carried himself to the way his scent wafted off his skin, but his demeanor now confirmed it. He was an alpha.

     “You’re right.” I stopped in front of him. “Respect is earned.” I held my hand out. It took him a moment to understand what I wanted, then his wide eyes darted up to Eren. _Waiting for your leader to give you the okay, huh? For someone so young, you’re already more loyal than most._

Eren patted him on the shoulder. “Go ahead.”

     Falco took my outstretched hand and shook it.

     “It’s nice to officially meet you,” I said. “I’m Levi Ackerman. I hope we get along well while I’m working with your leader.”

     “U-um, I’m Falco Grice. I hope we get along, too. And I’m sorry about your cheek.”

     “Don’t be. You were just following orders. Plus”—I tapped my cheek—"you’re an excellent shot.”

     He blushed all the way to the tips of his ears and mumbled a quiet “thank you” under his breath.

     “Go help the others unload our things,” Eren told him. “I’ll be there in a minute.” Once Falco took off, he returned his attention to me. “You like kids?”

     “Does it matter?”

     He grinned. “You really are a stubborn one.”

     I left him to think what he wanted. As I approached the truck, Hanji opened the passenger door and stepped out. She had an odd expression on her face.

     “What is it?” I asked.

     “Historia told us Zeke’s mage would have no power here. I thought she meant there was a boundary spell around the property, something that could physically prevent Zeke from coming in, but this is something else.” She raised her hands. Her lips moved in silence as she recited an incantation. By now, her tattoos should have lit up, sending magic throughout her body as she summoned it from the earth, the sun, the wind, but they remained dormant. “Whatever spell is at work here, it’s powerful enough to suppress my magic.”

     “That’s only out here.” Historia swept past us, with Ymir right on her heels. “Once you pass the gate, your magic will return to you.” Without waiting for a response, she drew her curved dagger out from its sheath and swiped it across her palm. Blood welled up. Drops of it dotted the ground. “In order to enter, you’ll need Reiss blood on you.”

     Hanji slipped her bracelets off and held her arm out. “I’ll go first.”

     “Hanji,” I said, in warning.

     “Allow me to do this, Levi. I need to make sure my magic returns to me on the other side. For the safety of our pack.”

     I gritted my teeth. “If anything happens to you—”

     “No harm will come to her. I swear it.” Historia smeared her blood across Hanji’s wrist. Then she gestured to the gate.

     Hanji pushed it open, took a step, and vanished into thin air.

     I sprung forward and grabbed Historia by the collar of her shirt. I lifted her off her feet. “What did you do? What happened to her?”

     “Let her go!” Ymir growled, latching onto my arm.

     I freed one hand to shove Ymir to the ground. The scent of anger that came off her in response sent my instincts into overdrive. I felt my canines grow to sharp tips. “Do yourself a favor and stay down. I already had enough of you. If you push me any further than this, I won’t have a problem killing you. Now”—I looked back at Historia—“tell me what you did.”

     Suddenly a strong, sturdy arm wrapped around my stomach and drew me away from her. I dug my claws into it. “Enough, little one,” Eren said, unbothered by the nails tearing into his skin. He slid his hand under my chin and directed my gaze to the gate. “Watch.”

     Like I had a choice. He held me still, my back pressed tight against his chest. Even when I tried to pry his arm off, his grip didn’t loosen.

     “Damn you,” I said through clenched teeth.

     “Watch,” he repeated.

     My eyes found the gate just as Hanji stepped through it. I stopped fighting. “Hanji? What happened?”

     “I...” she trailed off, giving her head a slight shake. “I was at the manor, except on a different day... Maybe even a different month. It was snowing.” She dashed up to Historia. “How is that possible?”

     “It’s my sister’s spell. Now you see we’ll be safe here. Even if Zeke finds this place, without my blood, he can’t activate the spell. He’ll only be able to access the manor in the present time.”

     “Unbelievable.” Hanji kept her eyes on the mage in front of her, but flapped her hand at me. “Tell everyone to calm down before a fight breaks out.”

     I looked around. For the first time since Eren had grabbed me, I noticed the rest of my pack had formed a tight circle around us. Isabel, Farlan, Mike, Nanaba, Petra—they were all waiting for me to give the order to fight. They had come to my defense as they watched me struggle against Eren’s hold. They had watched me try and fail to get loose. What kind of leader was I? I was supposed to be their protector, someone strong enough to shield them from any harm, yet I had proven weak against this alpha.  _If they knew about the visions Historia showed me, would I appear even weaker to them for giving in to an enemy? I can’t take that chance. They can never find out about those visions._

I shoved Eren’s arm away and held my hand up to keep my pack at bay. “Stand down. Everything’s fine.”

     “Are you sure?” Farlan asked, eyeing the gashes on Eren’s arm.

     “Are you concerned about what my pack will make of these?” Eren lifted his arm to point at a scratch that started at his wrist and went up to his elbow. “Don’t worry. I heal fast.” He looked at me. “And I can handle anything your leader throws my way.”

     Farlan clenched his fists, eyes gleaming with anger, but Mike put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. I could tell it took a lot out of Farlan to stay rooted to the spot he was in.

     “Tell me why everyone’s just standing around,” called out Jean. He came toward us with the rest of Eren’s pack following close behind him. They were all carrying some form of luggage. “My ass is numb from sitting on it all day, and I haven’t eaten since this morning. Let’s get a move on.”

     Historia held out her bloody hand to me. “Rub some on your hand.”

     “Disgusting,” I said as I swiped my finger across her palm. I rubbed the blood on my wrist.

     My pack followed suit. When they were through, Eren’s pack did the same.

     “You can come in now.” Falco ran up to the gate and pushed it open. A moment later, he was gone.      

     “We can’t take our vehicles?” I asked.

     Ymir sneered. “No. Only living creatures with Historia’s blood on them can activate the spell.”

     That explained why Eren had his pack gather their luggage.

     “We need to get our things.” I jerked my chin in the direction of the truck. Isabel ran off first, lugging Farlan behind her. Mike and Hanji were next, followed by Nanaba and Petra. Everyone else disappeared behind the gate. Everyone but Eren. “You don’t have to stay behind. I’ve seen enough of you for one day.”

     “Have you now?”

     I opened my mouth to throw his comment back at him, but then he stepped towards me and my attention fixed on the way his movements forced his jeans lower on his hips. My gaze skimmed over his happy trail and followed it down his defined abdominal muscles until it disappeared beneath his waistband. I looked for a few seconds too long, unable to tear my eyes away, then I made myself glance up at his face. “Yeah, I’ve seen enough.”

     He leaned in close, lips at my ear. “That’s not very convincing when you can’t take your eyes off me, little one.”

     “Don’t get ahead of yourself. The only reason I’m staring is because I can’t believe you took your shirt off again. Go get dressed.” I pushed past him and tried to ignore how strong his scent became when we touched. It lingered on me. Every movement made it drift off my skin, blending with my own scent, alpha and omega coming together in the most basic form. I hated how I responded to it, how it made every inch of my body feel too hot... What a foolish reaction. I didn’t have time to get distracted.

     When I made it to the truck, Isabel came up to me carrying an armful of luggage. “We have everything covered here,” she said.

     “Go ahead and wait for me by the gate. Nanaba and Petra, go with her.”

     As they walked away, I turned to Farlan, Mike, and Hanji, the strongest of my pack. “Don’t let your guard down in there. Until the Blood Promise is complete, we can’t trust any of them.”

     “If you don’t trust them, why go through with the ritual at all? Especially after what that mage did to you.” That came from Farlan, who glared at me as he waited for an answer.

     “Because it doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’m not the only one who will be affected by the ritual. Both Eren and I will be bound to the promise we make. In the end, Zeke will die.”

     Hanji put her hand on Farlan’s shoulder. “Levi’s not the only one at risk here. Think about it. Eren’s putting everything on the line, too. Why would he do that if he wasn’t planning on going through with the promise? No matter how you look at it, both of our packs want Zeke dead, and this is the best way to get it done.”    

     “And once they’re bound together, Eren’s pack can’t make a move against Levi,” Mike added.

     “Which is why that mage tried something yesterday.” I ground my teeth together. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten what she’s done. I’ll be keeping an eye on her from here on out, and if she tries anything again, I won’t go easy on her.”

     Farlan took a deep breath. “If you believe this is the right decision to make for our pack, then I’ll have your back till the very end. But don’t forget Eren’s not a friend to us. He may want Zeke dead, but that doesn’t mean he’s on our side. We don’t know what he has planned when this is all over.”

     He didn’t have to tell me that. I had no intention of putting my trust in Eren Yeager. I was using him just as much as he was using me. And once we killed Zeke, and the promise was fulfilled, we would go our separate ways—visions be damned.

     “Let’s go,” I said. “The others are waiting for us.”

     At the gate, we found Farlan among the others. He had put on a green coat and Eren was in the process of slipping into a long black hooded jacket. It reminded me of what Hanji had said earlier, that it was snowing behind that gate. Hundreds of witches were responsible for the spell keeping the manor hidden. That meant the power of a hundred witches was accessible to anyone with Reiss blood running through their veins. Was that how Historia’s sister created a spell that could transport us to another time?

     “You’ll feel a slight tugging sensation as you pass through,” Eren said to the others, though his eyes remained on me.

     “How does the spell work?” I asked.

     “Frieda, Historia’s older sister, made a replica of the manor using the power from a celestial event. We’re not really going backwards or forwards in time. We’re going to a carbon-copy of this place, one that only the Reiss’s have access to.”

     I lifted my hand to show him the blood on my palm. “Only their blood activates the spell.”

     “That’s right,” he said.

     “Go on.” I gestured to the gate. “I’ll be right behind you.”

     My pack went first, then Falco. That left me alone with Eren. I grabbed onto the sleeve of his jacket.

     When he raised his brows in question, I said, “I don’t trust you. I’m making sure you come through too.”

     “If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask.”

     “You’re such an irritating piece of—”

     He walked through the open gate doors and pulled me along with him. Total blackness followed. It felt like dropping into thin air, with no end in sight. But just as soon as it began, it ended. I was back on solid ground, surrounded by fresh fallen snow that blanketed every surface.

     “Falco,” Eren said, “go ahead and show everyone to the manor.” He turned his attention to my pack. “You’re welcome to pick whatever room you like, so long as it’s not occupied. I’m sure Ymir will let you know which rooms are available.” As they started towards Historia’s home, his eyes flicked in my direction. “There are only two days left until the full moon. I suggest you enjoy them.”

     “I will, once you tell me how we’re going to perform the ritual when we’re not in real time here.”

     “There’s a lake not too far from the manor. It’s outside the spell’s boundaries. That’s where we’ll do it.”

     The lake... So, one of the visions Historia had shown me would come true in two days’ time. The others would soon follow. I’d made peace with that on our way here. Even if those visions came to pass, I wouldn’t let it affect my pack’s future. When Zeke died, whatever relationship I had with Eren would die with him.

     “Understood,” I said.

     “Then let’s head inside.”

     We tramped through the snow side by side. Our feet sank into the crust with each step. I never liked the snow, or the cold, but not even I could deny the peaceful serenity it brought to the landscape. Still, a sigh of relief escaped me as we stepped on the stone pathway. The bottom half of my jeans were soaked. I would need to change out of them once we got inside.

     “Not a fan of the snow,” Eren commented. He’d stated it as a fact, not a question.

     “I’ll manage.”

     We stopped in front of the enormous entrance door. It opened into a dimly lit hall. As we stepped inside, the aroma of vanilla-scented candles filling the air, I examined the imperial staircase just up ahead. This place was beautiful, unlike anything I’d seen in my life. I was used to living in the woods, in shabby cabins. This—This was something else entirely.

     “The rooms are just up those stairs,” Eren said, too close.

     I turned and his face was inches away from mine. I swallowed. Why was he bending toward me like that? “Um, can you show me to an empty room? I want to change out of these clothes.”

     He nodded and took the lead. I followed him up the stairs and down a wide hallway. Doors lined the left wall. Most of them were shut, but there was one opened and I recognized it immediately. The room from the first vision. Everything was the same—the wooden walls, the vaulted ceiling, the fireplace. _And that dresser... That’s where Eren was standing, with his hair longer than it is now and eyes as yellow and fierce as a predator’s._

“That’s my room.” He came to stand behind me. His warmth and scent washed over me. “You recognized it.”

     “You weren’t lying, were you? Historia’s visions will become our reality one day.”

     “Yes.”

     “So you and I...?”

     “Yes.”

     I turned around to face him. He was so close. “I don’t want it.”

     “I think you’re lying. You feel it, too, don’t you? The mutual attraction between us.”

     “It doesn’t matter. I won’t—”

     He grabbed my chin and tilted my head back. His eyes bored into mine. “You will.”

     “You said you didn’t want this to happen, that you didn’t need the distraction.”

     “I don’t need it,” he said, “but I’m beginning to see it’s inevitable.” He leaned in closer. “I can smell myself on you. Do you have any idea what that does to me?”

     It would be so easy to give in. Too easy. Part of me wanted to close the distance between us, but the other part resisted and, in the end, that part won. I shoved him away from me.  

     “Those visions may be inevitable, but I won’t give in so easily, Alpha.”

     I stepped around him and walked back the way we had come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Levi thinks: I'd made peace with that (the visions) on our our way here.  
> What he means: I wouldn't mind getting fu**ed by Eren Yeager once or twice.  
> Oh, Levi, don't worry. Eren will take care of you.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. <3


	6. Chapter 6

My last day as a free man began with Hanji storming into my bedroom at dawn with a bundle of herbs in one hand and her satchel in the other. I didn’t have to ask to know she had barged in here to perform some kind of spell. I just sat up in bed, reached for my jeans, and watched her go about setting out various items on the dresser. Dried wolfsbane, a mortar and pestle, a moonstone, a test tube filled with milky-white fluid, and a small burlap pouch. None of the items interested me except the pouch. It gave off Eren’s scent.

     I climbed out of bed, pulled on my pants, and asked, “What’s in the pouch?”

     “Eren’s blood.”

     My eyes widened. “When the hell did you get that?”

     “Last night. All I had to do was ask.” She opened the pouch and dumped its contents into the mortar. Eren’s blood had been made into a fine red powder, which meant she’d kept herself busy this morning.

     “What’s this all for?”

     She uncorked the test tube and added the liquid. “Tonight’s the full moon. I don’t know what kind of side effects to expect once the ritual has been completed, so I’m taking some precautions.” The wolfsbane went in next. Then she picked up the pestle and crushed the ingredients together until they made a thick paste. “Don’t bother putting on a shirt. I’m giving you another tattoo. This one will go from your elbow all the way up to wrap around your shoulder. It’s an old, complicated spell. We’ll be in here for the next half hour or so, but it’ll be worth it.” She gestured to the upholstered storage bench at the end of the bed. “Sit.”

     I sat and glanced at the tattoo covering my forearm. The thick lines weaved together to create an intricate design. With no magic flowing through them, the tattoo was barely visible in the morning light. Yet I knew once the spells in the runes were activated, the lines would light up and glow blue. A surge of power would run through my body, heightening my senses, making me stronger, faster. If she was adding more to it with Eren’s blood that meant she was either using it to protect me against him or draw strength from him. _How can that alpha give away his blood without a second thought? He must know she wanted it for a spell._

“He has a lot of confidence in himself,” Hanji said as she came to stand in front of me, like she’d read my thoughts. 

     “Eren, you mean?” I scoffed. “You don’t have to tell me. I already know.”

     She swiped her fingers through the paste and smeared it on my arm. It stung on contact. “All alphas are that way. It’s in their nature to think highly of themselves. But this one’s different.”

     “How so?”

     “He’s not all talk.” Without explaining further, she raised her hands and started chanting. Magic ran through her tattoos, starting at her wrists and winding its way up her arms. I gritted my teeth when the mixture on my arm heated up. The pain spread as the tattoo took form, the paste sinking into my skin in detailed lines that seamlessly connected with the ones on my forearm. They differed in color at first, but the longer she repeated the words of the spell, the more they blended together. Soon they would be indistinguishable. “ _Lase surmaga lőpetada ühendus,_ ” she continued, her voice growing louder. Her tattoos shone brighter as the spell began to take effect. “ _Katkestage ühendus surmaga_ _. Eraldage oma hinge surma_.”

     The burning sensation morphed into a different kind of pain. I clenched my fist, ignoring the way my muscles throbbed and spasmed. I waited for the discomfort to subside, but it only grew worse with every word that tumbled out of Hanji’s mouth. It hadn’t felt like this the last time she had given me a tattoo. What exactly was different about this one?

     She raised her arms and the color in her tattoos faded to white. She was using too much magic.

     “Hanji—”

     “ _Lase surmaga lőpetada ühendus._ _Katkestage ühendus surmaga_ _. Eraldage oma hinge surma_.” Her voice rose above mine, powerful, taking on an edge that made it sound like she was speaking with hundreds of voices. When she repeated the words once more, her eyes rolled back into her head and she stumbled to the side.

     I stood up to steady her. Her cloudy-white eyes fixed on me and a blast of elemental energy slammed me back down onto the bench. My teeth clanked together as my mouth clamped shut. What the hell was happening? She’d never used this much magic before. Where was she drawing all this power from without a celestial event to aid her? If she used too much of her strength to bind the spell to my body, it could be dangerous for her.

     “Stop,” I said through clenched teeth. The invisible force keeping me seated made it difficult to form the words. “It’s...too much for you...  Hanji...”

     She pressed on. Blood trickled from her nose, running down her lips to her chin. It smeared across her teeth as she kept reciting the spell.

     I had to put a stop to this, but just when I braced my arms against the bench to push myself up, Hanji collapsed to the floor. The magic holding me down lifted. I sprang to my feet and crouched beside her. Her skin was flushed red, her lips dried and cracked, yet the moron smiled up at me. “Have you lost your mind?” I snapped.

     “It worked.”

     “Like that matters.”

     “It does,” she insisted. “That tattoo can save you.”

     “What the hell are you talking about? Stop speaking in riddles. Make sense.”

     She pushed herself up onto her elbows. “If you and Eren can’t fulfill the promise, you’re both supposed to die, but with this tattoo”—she brushed her fingertips across the new markings—“you have a fighting chance of surviving it.”

     “How?”

     “When one of you is dying, it’ll separate your souls. You won’t die with him.”

     I flicked her forehead. “Idiot. You put yourself at risk for something like that? What if I’m the one dying?”

     “You won’t be.”

     “You don’t know that.” Arguing with her was pointless. The spell had been completed and no amount of talking would make her see reason. Right now what she needed was to regain her strength. “Wait here. I’m going to send Petra downstairs to get you some food.”

     As I went to stand up, she grabbed me by the arm. “It will work,” she said, her voice full of desperation. That worried look in her eyes made me realize why she had taken the risk. She had already lost one leader to Zeke. This was her way of trying to prevent losing another.

     _That won’t happen again. I won’t let it. I’m going to kill the man responsible for Erwin’s death, then this will all be over._

     “I’ll be back.”

     “No, wait.” She sat up. “I’m coming with you. I want to see if the tattoo has any effect on Eren.”

     I ignored the urge to tell her to stay put. Once she made up her mind about something, there was no stopping her. She would follow me downstairs whether I liked it or not. “You look like shit. Are you sure you can make it downstairs without falling over?”

     “That’s what I have you for. Help me up.”

     I pulled her to her feet. When she found her balance, she went about tidying up the mess she’d made on the dresser. I kept a close watch on her. She didn’t look good. The color had drained from her face and her hands trembled as she cleaned the pestle with a tissue. With the amount of magic she had used to bind the spell to my body, it would take her a while to recover. Would she have enough strength to perform the ritual tonight? Perhaps it would be safer for her to leave it up to Ymir and Historia.    

     “I’ll be fine in a few hours,” Hanji said, like she knew exactly what was on my mind.

     “We’ll see.”

     “In the vision Historia showed you, was I there helping perform the ritual?”

     I grunted.

     “See, I’ll be fine.” She shoved everything into the satchel and eased the strap over her shoulder. “Hurry up and put a shirt on. I’m starving.”

     Laughter echoed up the stairs from the dining room as we stepped out into the hallway. I had grown used to it. Eren’s pack always seemed to be in high spirits, gathering together every morning to eat breakfast and swap stories with my pack. It stunned me how everyone was getting along. Still, that didn’t mean I would let my guard down around any of them. Spending a few days in their company did not make them friends. And Eren—He had kept his distance and given me the space I needed. Yet it irritated me somehow. Why? Wasn’t this what I’d wanted all along? Space to think about our current situation?

     “You’re nervous about seeing Eren, aren’t you?” Hanji asked. “He hasn’t been around much since we arrived here.”

     I shot her a sideways glance. “Did using all that magic mess with your head?”

     “You might want to say that to your scent. It is very telling.”

     I stopped at the top of the stairs and said, “Go ahead. I’ll be down in a minute.”

     Hanji gave me a once-over, understood that I needed some time to myself, then made her way downstairs.

     Eren Yeager had been a constant thought on my mind since he’d forced his way into my life. Seeing those visions of us together hadn’t helped any, and now the day had come when the Blood Promise ritual would be performed. Tonight our souls would be bound together. So, as much as I hated to admit it, Hanji was right about my scent. I was nervous. There would be no hiding from him after today. He’d know every thought, every emotion, every sensation—and I’d know his.

     Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes. This was for the sake of my pack. It needed to be done. _It’s not like I have any other choice._

“Levi?”

     I opened my eyes to see Petra stepping out of her room. She walked toward me, but stopped short of reaching the stairs. She took a step back. “You smell Eren on me,” I said.

     “Yes.”

     I slid the sleeve of my T-shirt up to reveal the new tattoo. “It’s this.”

     “Hanji gave you a new one? When?”

     “Just now.”

     “It looks like a complicated design. Did she have any trouble?”

     “Some.” I lowered my sleeve. “She’s downstairs right now. We should head down to make sure everything’s all right. I don’t want Historia or Ymir to notice anything off about her.”

     Petra nodded and matched my pace as I descended the steps. When we reached the first floor, the racket coming from the dining room grew louder. I heard several of Eren’s pack members talking amongst each other, but above that, Isabel’s laughter rang loud and clear. It didn’t surprise me. She had been quick to make friends with Armin and Mikasa. She followed them around the manor like a lost puppy dog. That would’ve worried me if it weren’t for Farlan. He made sure to stick with her no matter where she went.

     “Looks like everyone beat us down here,” Petra said as we walked into the dining room. My eyes scanned over the people sitting around the long table. The only ones missing were Eren and Mikasa.

     Relieved that he wasn’t here, I took a seat between Hanji and Isabel. Hanji looked paler than she had upstairs, beads of sweat dotting her forehead.

     “You shouldn’t have come down,” I said under my breath. “You need to rest until tonight.”

     “Don’t worry about me. Just pay attention to how your tattoo feels when Eren shows up.”

     “What if he doesn’t show up?”

     She picked up her fork and used it to slice off a piece of pancake. “He will.”

     I decided not to think about Eren for the time being. Instead, I grabbed a clean plate from the stack on the table and scooped some scrambled eggs onto it. When Isabel noticed how little I served myself, she took it upon herself to add several sausage links. I eyed her in annoyance. She mouthed, “What?” and flashed me an innocent smile that disappeared as she stuffed her face with food. If we weren’t among guests, I would have put the sausages back, but that wasn’t possible now.

     “Go on. Give them here.” Hanji slid her plate toward me. She waited until I got rid of all of them but one to add, “That one is all yours.”   

     I glared at her. She glared back.

     “Fine,” I relented.

     “You don’t like sausages, Mr. Levi?” asked Falco. He was sitting across from me with a milk mustache coloring his upper lip white.

     _Mr. Levi, huh? That’s a first._

“Sausages are fine. I just don’t have much of an appetite this morning.”

     “Are you nervous about the ritual? Eren told me it’s important for our packs.”

     “It is important,” I said, “so perhaps I am a bit nervous.”

     He leaned forward in his seat, eyes bright with excitement. “It’ll be okay, you’ll see. Eren won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

     “You have a lot of confidence in your leader.”

     “Of course! He’s the strongest alpha I’ve met!”

     “Simmer down over here,” Jean said, tapping his upper lip. “Got a little something there, kiddo.”

     Falco’s face flushed red. He picked up the linen napkin beside his plate and wiped his mouth clean. Afterwards, he peeked up at me and mumbled, “Excuse me.”

     “Don’t worry about it.” I grinned.

     The grin melted away as the lines of my new tattoo hummed with magic. I looked up from Falco in time to catch Eren walking past the dining room into the kitchen. He had nothing on, not a stitch of clothing. The shock of seeing him naked made my grip on the fork I held loosen. It fell and clattered against my plate, drawing Hanji’s attention to the alpha standing in front of the breakfast bar.

     “Well, good morning to you,” she said, her gaze focused on one specific part of his body. “Now _that_ can do some damage.”

     Against my will, my eyes shot down and...

     _Jesus, he’s not even erect and it’s_ that _big?_

     “I’ve lost my appetite,” I said.

     Eren stilled at the sound of my voice. When he turned his head to look at me, his eyes gleamed yellow and a growl pierced through the noise and demanded silence. Everyone stopped speaking, but in that moment, it didn’t even matter. None of them existed. It was only Eren and I. It was the way he held my gaze and made an unfamiliar ache form in the center of my chest. It was how goosebumps broke out across my skin, how my breathing became ragged, uneven, and how a whine rose in my throat.

     I ached. Every part of me ached. I wanted him so badly, so desperately...

     “Levi.” Someone grabbed onto my shoulder and shook me. “Levi, snap out of it.”

     Everything came rushing back into focus. My eyes flicked away from Eren to glance around the room. Everyone was staring. All of them smelled the pheromones that gave away my desire.

     I pushed back in my seat and stood up. Then, without a word, I left the dining room. I needed time to think, to clear my head of that alpha, but the more distance I put between us, the more I wanted to turn back. The way he’d looked at me back there had stirred something inside me, some deep primal need that made me feel on the brink of losing control. Why hadn’t I resisted? Why had I responded so strongly to him? Were the visions responsible for my reaction? _It doesn’t matter,_ I told myself, a blatant lie. _It doesn’t matter at all. It means nothing and never will._

I walked down the corridor that would lead me to the garden, the one place in the manor I’d found solace in. But I didn’t make it far when the sound of footsteps stopped me in my tracks. I turned around and snarled at the sight of Eren coming towards me.

     “I see you found a pair of pants,” I snapped.

     He didn’t respond or slow down, not until he was right in front of me. “The tattoo worked.”

     “That’s why you came after me?”

     “No. I came after you for a different reason.”

     The air between us crackled with the hidden meaning behind those words. I couldn’t catch my breath. It was unbearable to stand this close to him and not touch him. And his eyes, still yellow and feral, held mine without shame. They filled my vision as he bent his head down. I lost focus for a second, just a second, but then I whispered, “No.”

     “Why?”

      “You’re only reacting to the smell of your scent on me,” I began in a shaky voice. “Nothing more.”

     “You know that’s not true.”

     “It is. Now get out of my way. I have better things—”

     “You want this, too,” he interrupted, brushing his thumb across my lips. The feel of his skin sliding against mine made every inch of my body thrum with heat. “You’re just afraid to admit it.”

     “You’re wrong.”

     “Am I?”

     I took a step back, unsteady on my feet. “Yes.”

     He grabbed me by the wrist to keep me in place. “Levi, wait.”

     If he had called me little one, it would have been easy to turn away, but he’d said my name. And the way he’d said it made my resolve fracture...

     I gave in without knowing how. All I was aware of were his hands cupping my face as he tilted my head to the side. He brought our throats together and everything shattered. _Yes. More. I need your scent on me._ Eren lifted me off my feet, pressed my back against the wall, and marked the other side of my neck, taking me apart in ways no one had ever done before.

     “Levi,” he said.

     I lifted my arms, palms up.

     Eren understood right away. He took my wrists into his hands and dragged them against the glands on his throat, growling low in his chest. It was a sound full of desire and possessiveness. Even if he didn’t say the words aloud, the meaning was clear. He wanted me for his own.

     _That can’t happen. Not now. Not today, when we have so many other things to focus on._

     “Put me down,” I ordered.

     He leaned away to look at me. “Running away again?”

     “Just put me down.” The second my feet touched the ground, I turned and walked away.

     From behind me, he said, “You can run away all you want, little one. I’ll chase after you.”

     I had no doubt about that.

     I had no doubt about that whatsoever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will a day ever come when I don't write Levi being a stubborn little shit? The answer is no. Stubborn Levi is my life. Also, Eren is just as stubborn, so 👀
> 
> And I expect my gold star now, Raiza. Hand it over. Gimme it.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thank you a ton for the comments, kudos, and subscriptions! ♡
> 
> Social media info: [✉](https://dressedindarkness.carrd.co/)


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